My meeting with Shirin Ebadi
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Last Tuesday night I was invitide to a dinner with the Nobel Peace Prize Winner Iranian judge Shirin Ebadi. She was invited by the Middle Estern Studies Center of the University of Arizona. The lecture before the dinner was open to public and it attracted a big audience of about two thousand people. She was a corragous and intelligent voice against human rights violation in Iran and elsewere, including Israel.
The same evening I was invited to join her in a relatively small dinner party. I delivered to her the message and asked her to join us. We had a short discussion on some verses of the Quran, but my impression was that she was not aware of our methodology and understanding.
So, together with the Persian translation of the following letter, I gave her the Persian translation of Rashad Khalifa's remarkable book, Quran, Hadith, and Islam. She gave me her personal address for further communication.
Dear Mrs. Ebadi
In the light of recent events around the world and acts committed in the name Islam, there is an increasing need for the Muslims to stand up and voice their condemnation of the actions of a few and rejection of violence and abuse of human rights in Muslim countries.
One such voice we hear loud and clear is yours Mrs. Ebadi. We are very much impressed with your recent speeches trying to bring a breeze of sensibility to an atmosphere where rhetoric and emotions seems to be the norm.
We are a group of reform minded Muslims of different walks of life who are in process of forming a movement to create an awareness of man made misconceptions and innovations that have been introduced into our religion. We believe that Islam is a pluralistic religion that in the light of the teachings of the Quran is tolerant of other's creed and further, salvation is a private matter between God and the believer and any interference is condemned.
After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, something interesting happened. In direct contradiction to the teachings of the Quran, male clerics dedicated the religion not to God alone, but to a "holy" corporation consisting of
? God +
? Muhammad +
? Muhammad's companions +
? The companions of Muhammad's companions +
? Early sect leaders +
? Late sect leaders +
? Early scholars of a particular sect +
? Late scholars of a particular sect; and so on.The product of this corporation was the Hadith (teachings attributed to Muhammad), the Sunnah (actions attributed to Muhammad), the Ijma (consensus of a select group of scholars), the Ijtihaad (religious decrees by early scholars) and numerous sects. This concoction of medieval Arab/Christian/Jewish cultures was introduced to the masses as God's infallible religion, as delivered by the last prophet. The only thing actually delivered by God to Muhammad, however, was the text of the Holy Quran, which is set out as the final and authoritative divine message to humankind.
Unfortunately, ignorance, intolerance, misogynist teachings, superstitions, and outdated practices have accumulated over the centuries in interpreting and translating the holy book of Islam. It is time to re-introduce the actual message of the Quran. It is time to remove the accumulated layers of man-made dogmas and traditions that have attached themselves to the text.
We plan to launch our movement through a websites called "Muslims For Reform" (muslimsforreform.org) or "Islamic Reform" (islamicreform.org) and are about to embark on publishing articles and books to promote the peaceful message of the Quran and rejection of violence under any pretext. We would like to ask you to join our movement in any capacity you may seem fit. The time has come for the Muslims to reflect and introspectively stop blaming others and take responsibility for our own actions.
Among the members, supporters or advisors of Islamic Reform are
Prof. Riffat Hassan; University of Lousville
Prof. Aisha Musa; Harvard University
Prof. Martha Shulte; University of Arizona
Prof. Jon Mandaville; Portland State University, Oregon
Prof. Omid Safi; Colgate University
Prof. Asma Barlas; Ithaca College
Prof. Kecia Ali; Harvard University
Prof. Amina Wadud; Virginia Commonwealth University
Fereydoun Taslimi; Entrepreneur, Noor Foundation
Hossein Kowsari; Author
Caner Taslaman; Author
Faraydon Karim, PhD.; Mathematician
Muhammad Asadi (writer); Writer
Ali Bahzadnia, MD.; Human Rights Activist
Layth free-minds.org
Said Talari; moslem.org
Raymond & Sophia Catton; Quranic Society of CanadaPeace,
Edip Yuksel